Missing Me (26 page)

‘He made it,’ Lauren breathed. She turned to me. ‘You run
right
behind me, Mo, OK?’

I nodded. Lauren set off. She didn’t move as quickly as Jam. My heart was in my mouth as she ran past the window. Anyone looking out would definitely see her. She pushed herself on, into
the darkness. She was safe.

‘You next,’ Wolf urged.

I nodded, bracing myself, ready to run.

And then two men appeared in the distance. It was Leather Jacket and the other man and they were heading in our direction.

I froze. We were hidden here, in the shadows, but if we stepped into the light, we would definitely be seen.

‘Hurry up!’ Baxter’s distant shout filled the air. The two men broke into a jog. ‘Get the jetty lights on!’ Baxter yelled. ‘I have to go in a few minutes and
I want to know those kids are on board and away from here before I leave. Nothing’s going to go wrong this time.’

I gasped. Wolf had been right: Baxter was planning on killing us and dumping our bodies at sea. Leather Jacket and the other man sped up. They were heading straight for us.

Wolf drew me back so we were pressed right against the rough, cold brick wall behind. I prayed the shadows from the house were dark enough to swallow us up. Wolf pulled me closer. His heart beat
wildly against my back.

The two men charged past. We stood like statues, waiting to make sure no-one else was coming. Silence. The sea wind roared around us. I peered into the darkness opposite. At least Jam and Lauren
had made it to the shed.

‘Come on.’ Wolf took my hand, ready to lead me across the grass so we could join them.

And then a thin wail emerged from the house. Faint but instantly recognisable. I turned towards the sound. It came again.

‘That’s Ellie,’ I said. ‘That’s the baby.’

Wolf met my eyes. I gritted my teeth.

‘I have to go back,’ I said. ‘I have to save her.’

‘What?’ A look of desperation crossed Wolf’s face.

‘I
have
to find her,’ I said. ‘You heard Baxter. He’s leaving in a minute, once he’s made sure we’re on the boat. He’ll be taking Ellie with
him.’

Wolf’s eyes hardened with determination. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘OK.’

We crept up the fire escape. Lauren and Jam would be waiting for us by the shed, wondering why we didn’t come. I was sure they couldn’t have heard the baby’s cry from where
they were hiding – it had sounded faint even to me. We reached the fire door leading back to the first-floor corridor. The house felt quiet and still. It was furnished in a really
old-fashioned style, with carpets everywhere and patterned wallpaper. Completely different from Baxter’s home in London and the Appleton Cross house.

I strained my ears, wondering where Ellie’s cry had come from. It was impossible to tell. My thoughts darted back to Jam and Lauren. Hopefully they would find the main road, get to a phone
and call the police. Help would come soon, wouldn’t it? And I
must
find the baby. I
had
to stop Baxter from leaving with her.

But where was she?

Wolf beckoned me down the corridor. We tiptoed along, pausing outside every door to see if we could hear Ellie’s cry again, but there was no sound other than the distant
whoosh
of
the wind and the sea. We reached the stairs. I tried to work out how many men Baxter had with him. We’d seen Leather Jacket and one other man running down to the jetty. Who else was left in
the house? Maybe it was just Baxter himself.

Another faint cry echoed up towards us. It sounded like the baby was on the ground floor. We crept on, down the stairs. I was trying to make as little sound as possible, taking small, shallow
breaths and staying as light on my feet as I could. We reached the ground floor hallway. Lights seeped out from under the doors on both sides. I hesitated. Wolf leaned forward and whispered in my
ear.

‘Which way?’

I shook my head. I had no idea. My heart was racing and my palms sweating. We were totally exposed, standing in this hallway. Baxter or one of his men could come through any second. It was
impossible to tell which direction the baby’s cry had come from – or where she was now. A shiver wriggled down my spine.
Come on, Madison.
We had to move . . . do something . .
.

‘That way.’ I pointed to the door to our left.

Wolf crept to the door. He leaned his head against the wood, listening for sounds from inside. ‘I can’t hear anything,’ he mouthed.

Nodding, I twisted the handle. It felt cold in my clammy hands. I pushed open the door. The room inside was a living room complete with sofas, a large-screen TV and a big brick fireplace. It was
empty, though there were signs that people had been in here not long ago – smoke wreathed into the air from the cigarette stub in the ashtray on the coffee table. Several empty glasses were
scattered around it.

A set of glass French doors opened out onto a patio. I’d lost all sense of where we were in the building. The fire escape had definitely led down to the side of the house. Where did the
doors from this room open out?

Wolf rushed silently over to the doors. The key was in the lock. He turned it and opened it slightly.

‘We can get out of the house through here, if we have to,’ he whispered.

‘OK,’ I mouthed.

We crept back to the living-room door. The door to the room across the hall was still shut. There was no sign of anyone about and no sound either.

‘Maybe they’ve gone already,’ Wolf whispered.

I shook my head. Baxter had said he was about to leave – but also that he wanted to make sure we were loaded onto the boat at the jetty first. He was surely still in the house –
which meant Ellie was too.

I reached for the door. The light was on inside. Footsteps sounded across the room. They stopped. We could hear drawers being opened and shut, then a door closing with a bang. Silence.

What was going on in there now? Had whoever was inside left the room? There was no way of knowing. I took a deep breath and opened the door. It was a kitchen. Declan Baxter was standing behind a
large table on the other side of the room. And there, on the countertop just to our right, was Ellie. Tiny and crumpled inside a baby car seat, I could see at a glance she was sleeping and covered
with a blanket.

Baxter’s jaw dropped as he saw us.

‘You!’ he shouted.

For a second, we stared at each other. Then Baxter took a step forwards.
Wham.
In his haste to reach me, he’d barged into the table in front of him. As he let out a yell of pain, I
darted to the counter, grabbed the car seat by its handle and raced out of the room. Wolf was ahead of me. He pounded across the hall and through the living room.

‘Come back here!’ Baxter shouted after us.

Wolf flung open the French doors. I rushed outside after him, still holding the car seat by the handle. The cold wind slapped at my face. The sea sounded louder than ever. Wolf charged across
the patio, onto the grass beyond.

I could hear Baxter running after us. ‘Stop them!’ He was yelling for his men. They would surely hear him and come straight up from the jetty, wherever that was.

My arm ached from the effort of holding the car seat steady. Panting for breath, I ran on, peering into the darkness ahead. Where was the hut Lauren and Jam had hidden behind? We had obviously
exited the building at a completely different place.

Were those trees ahead?
Yes.
Wolf had reached them. He darted into the darkness, his outline swallowed up by the shadows of the swaying branches. I glanced over my shoulder. Baxter was
still charging after us, just a few metres behind. I reached the trees. As I thundered onto the soft, damp earth, the wind roared furiously around my head. Wolf appeared from nowhere. He grabbed my
free arm.

‘Come on,’ he rasped, his voice hoarse from the wind and the running.

I tore after him, still trying to keep the car seat from swinging too wildly. Wolf darted between the trees, pulling me behind him. The branches above our heads swayed violently, almost drowning
out the terrifying roar of the sea. We ran deeper into the undergrowth. The night air was cold. It smelled of damp earth.

We reached the far edge of the trees. Wolf stopped. He glanced anxiously around, panting for breath. I set Ellie down in her car seat, then squatted down to check she was OK. She was still,
miraculously, fast asleep. I touched her cheek gently. It was cold. I felt lower. The part of her face under the blanket was relatively warm, but she was only a few hours old – she
shouldn’t be exposed to this wind at all.

As I fiddled with the car seat harness, Wolf squatted down beside me.

‘Is she all right?’ he asked.

‘I think so.’ I released the harness and took Ellie out. ‘Did we lose Baxter?’

‘Dunno.’ Wolf stood up and peered into the trees.

I wrapped Ellie tightly in the blanket. She was still asleep, her tiny body all floppy. I held her close to my chest, as Lauren had earlier, and she nuzzled into me.

‘Sssh,’ I murmured, though she wasn’t making any noise. ‘It’s going to be OK.’

As I stood up, footsteps sounded close by. It was impossible to tell what direction they were coming from. Wolf laid his hand on my arm. I looked up, into his eyes.

‘Madison?’ Baxter’s voice echoed through the trees. He sounded close. ‘You’re being stupid. You can’t stop me taking the baby. You’re just putting your
sister and her boyfriend at risk.’

I gulped. Had Baxter found Jam and Lauren? Were they OK? Wolf bent his head down. His lips brushed my ear.

‘Look after the baby, I’ll distract him,’ he whispered.

‘Madison?’ Baxter called again. The wind was carrying his voice so strongly it seemed to sweep through the trees from all directions. I looked around, desperate to work out where the
sound was coming from.

‘The hut and the road beyond are over there.’ Wolf pointed through the trees to the left.

I stared at him. How on earth did he know that? I had lost all sense of where I was in relation to the house, let alone the hut.

‘Straight through the trees?’ I whispered.

‘No.’ Wolf made a zigzag motion with his hand. ‘You have to head left at first, then more to the right when you reach the edge of the trees.’

‘Madison?’ Baxter yelled again. ‘There’s no way out of here. Come back, be sensible. You’re putting the baby at risk being out in this cold air.’

I looked at Wolf again. I badly wanted to hand everything over to him, to let him be responsible for dealing with Baxter. But that wasn’t right. I had got us into this situation, it was up
to me to get us out of it.

‘It’s me Baxter wants; he doesn’t even know you’re here,’ I whispered. ‘
I’ll
cause the distraction. You get the baby over to the hut. Find the
others. Fetch the police.’

‘No—’

But before Wolf could say any more, I pushed Ellie into his arms.

‘You know the way,’ I whispered. I reached over and tucked a stray scrap of blanket over her fragile body. ‘Keep her warm. Keep her safe.’

And without looking at him again, I turned, picked up the empty baby car seat and ran out of the woods.

I raced hard across the grass. It sloped sharply down, the momentum making me run faster until I was almost flying downhill into the darkness. Wind whipped through my hair,
chilling my skin. The empty car seat banged against my legs. I wanted to drop it, but then Baxter would know Ellie wasn’t inside. The sea roared angrily in the distance.

I tried to slow myself. No point me running if Baxter wasn’t following. The whole point was to draw his attention . . . to make sure Wolf had plenty of time to get away with little
Ellie.

I glanced over my shoulder. Was Baxter there? Yes. He was running down the hill towards me. I could just make out his outline in the dim light from the house. I turned round and raced on. The
slope was levelling out, but the land beyond was pitch black. Surely, if there were houses or other buildings there would be some light. I glanced to the left and the right. The same total
darkness.

It suddenly hit me. That blanket of dark was the sea. And it surrounded me on all sides. I slowed right down. The wind was even fiercer here than it had been up in the woods. Another few steps
and I saw the water.

Jeez, I’d run in absolutely the worst direction possible. I scanned the horizon. I was on a cliff top that jutted out over the sea. Baxter was heading straight for me, effectively cutting
me off from the land on either side that led back to the wooded area on my left and the house on my right.

I glanced down at the waves, feeling my old terror of the ocean rise inside me. Yells echoed faintly up from the jetty far below. It was about fifty metres away, a short wooden platform lit by a
string of lights jutting several metres into the sea. Leather Jacket and the other man were down there, watching a boat approaching fast, its front light flickering above the choppy waves.
Immediately beneath me, the rock face ran sheer, straight down to the sea beneath. Powerful waves slapped against the side of the cliff. I watched, mesmerised, as the suck and drag of the tide
pulled them back before hurling them at the rock again.

I looked up. Baxter was almost here. There was no way in the world I’d be able to dodge round him. He ran closer . . . closer . . . I froze, paralysed with fear. The car seat was still in
my hand. I looked down, checking the back was facing Baxter. He mustn’t realise Ellie wasn’t inside. I
had
to give Wolf every chance to keep her safe.

Baxter stopped, two metres in front of me. He bent over, clutching his side and panting for breath. I couldn’t move. I gripped the car seat.

Think, Madison. Wolf only needs a bit more time. All you have to do is delay Baxter – just for a few minutes.

Baxter straightened up. ‘Give me the baby, Madison,’ he said sharply. ‘This has gone on long enough.’

‘No.’ I moved the car seat slightly behind me, checking again to make sure that Baxter couldn’t see it was empty.